Chief Executive of the IRFU Philip Browne at an Ireland 2023 Rugby World Cup Media Conference in March

In a strongly-worded letter Browne outlined what he sees as potential scoring issues for South Africa’s bid under categories such as Stadia, Security and Major event hosting experience.

The IRFU boss went on to question if the Commonwealth Games decision to strip their event from Durban in 2022 was taken into consideration, and also criticised what he believes is the report’s willingness to overlook South Africa’s ability to fill grounds for games.

In his letter Browne said: “Full stadia for all matches is critically important to the success of the tournament as a live event and for broadcast around the world,”

“Whilst certain significant risks were noted in relation to the overall size of match venues in the South African bid, and its ticketing strategy, these do not appear to have been fully reflected in the scoring. There are very clear examples in recent times of starkly empty stadia in South Africa for significant fixtures.”

The letter follows the IRFU’s statement that they won’t give up on their bid to host the tournament despite the two other countries receiving higher recommendations in the report. The official vote takes place on 15 November.

Browne’s letter was sent to World Rugby representatives, including CEO Brett Gosper. It was also disclosed in full to the Irish Times and you can be read it here.

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